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Benedictus
Benedictus (Ben) was a Human Jedi Consular who was heavily involved in the Great Galactic Civil War. His endeavors as a Padawan occured prior to the Sacking of Coruscant and included delicate diplomatic missions that allowed Ben to display his finely honed tact and charisma. Although extremely adept at Jedi Mind Tricks, Benedictus was a slow-learner in regards to learning lightsaber combat. A teenage Benedictus was only able to master Soresu after spending two years stranded under the close tutelage of a Jedi Swordmaster. Description “Oh, c’mon D4, we’ve handled worse. Remember the swoopbike gang dispute we were able to settle in 24 hours. I bet this mission takes less than 72 standard hours.” “Master Ben, your overconfidence is a sign that this will most definitely take longer than expected.” - Conversation between Padawan Benedictus and protocol droid D4-D10 Physical Appearance Ben is built fairly tall for the average human but weighs less than the average Human Jedi, making the red-haired man appear lanky compared to his peers. The body that hides underneath his robes is not the frame of a body-builder, but sensible portions of muscle adorn the man’s gangly skeleton. Ben sports an unflattering scarlet goatee at times when busy, but he prefers a clean shave. His red hair is kept manageable and pushed to one side when longer than 5/8”. Few significant scars reside on Ben’s body. He is often found sporting a large set of pearly whites when in the comfortable company of good friends. Clothing Preference Ben prefers a beige undertunic, mahogany overtunic, brown boots and a brown utility belt, as well as a variety of hooded cloaks. His right ring finger is adorned with a single loop of red string at all times. Ben is often found with his hood up to hide his bright hair or to shadow his eyes. Personality Ben is a good-humored young man who rarely loses his temper. He shows the utmost respect to superiors, elders, and new acquaintances but lets his guard down when around those he considers friends. Sarcastic when stressed. Lightsaber Relatively short green blade, silver hilt with hand grips wrapped in light brown cloth. One power crystal on the inside is the core of a large pearl scavenged from the carcass of an Ibliton. The other is a crystal from Ilum that gives the blade its green color. Biography Childhood Benedictus was born on Metellos to a young woman-of-the-night living in the slums of one of the planet’s many stratablocks. Ben’s mom, indigent and unwilling or unable to care for a newborn, chose to abandon her baby at a downtrodden local orphanage shortly after her son’s birth. She would leave her baby with only the gift of life and a name; Benedictus. By the time five years had passed, Ben had joined with other orphans to bandy around their sector in search of extra rations to improve upon the meager offerings of the orphanage. Ben’s exploits around the vast cityscape provided him with a growing knowledge of the city, its inhabitants, and how to exploit them. Ben and his compatriots gambled, cheated, and stole to earn money and food. Ben’s exhibited an intellect that was wildly uncharacteristic for his age. He had a knack for memorization and encouraged its use by reading almanacs, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and classic literary works. Veraciously consuming these holocrons allowed Ben to squeeze out any useful wisdom in an effort to educate himself. He spoke eloquently, planned schemes elaborately, and utilized his resources efficiently. His peers were constantly impressed, even if they didn’t understand the words their small, seven-year-old friend had to say. Ben’s intelligence and charisma soon helped him rise to role of leader of his group of orphans. Benedictus readied them for his ambitious plans. Under Ben’s command, the group of orphans became known as the “Eighth Block Hooligans”. Ben coordinated sophisticated heists and used the older orphans as muscle to steal shipments of blasters and spice. Ben would distribute the blasters to his older, more experienced lackeys, and, using his charismatic techniques, Ben would sell the spice to dealers at an inflated price. Ben became accustomed to wearing multiple layers of clothing, a hood, mask, and voice modifiers to keep the clients he negotiated with from determining his true age. The Hooligans stopped thieving once they amassed enough credits needed to purchase their own ships. Instead of stealing the spice, Ben thought it wiser and relatively safer, to buy it straight from the suppliers in bulk, and at a heftily discounted price thanks to Ben’s negotiations. As usual Ben upsold their take to dealers back on Metellos. The Hooligans soon moved onto other commodities; crystals, art, ore, and artifacts, all sold in order to make an inane profit. Benedictus’ quick success at such a young age surprised him at times. He used his fortune to deck out a hidden warehouse for himself and the rest of his Hooligans. They enjoyed themselves as kids should during the day, and the older orphans worked during the night, all without the supervision of anyone over the age of sixteen. During playtime, Ben usually isolated himself from the rest of the children at the top of the warehouse where he instead busied himself by reading, planning new deals, or tinkering. One month, Ben decided to fabricate a protocol droid to aid him in his negotiations and help take care of some of the younger Hooligans during the day. Ben created the droid D4-D10, a snazzy protocol droid that disingenuously challenged his master, but did most of his bidding, including watching over and acting as butler to the kids at the Hooligan Warehouse. After his ninth birthday, Ben was approached by the leader of the one of the most powerful black-market traders on the planet, Boss Krako of the East Block Conglomerate. Krako, a Yinchorri, had become unhappy with the Hooligans’ success and had tasked his underlings with finding the location of Ben’s hidden warehouse and his supply bunkers. Krako had the numbers and the muscle to overtake not only Ben’s older, armed Hooligans, but he also had the muscle to overtake the numerous mercenaries Ben employed to defend himself and his corporation around Metellos. Ben tried to schmooze his way out of a sticky situation, but his tricks failed on Krako. Instead, the crimelord made a deal with Ben; if the boy was to work for him as his star negotiator, Krako would spare his orphan friends and his warehouse. Ben assented unhappily. Working for Krako divided Benedictus. Ben had risen from simple criminal to planet-wide villain in a matter of days. With the Hooligans, Ben used his ill-gotten gains to support a struggling group of child orphans who relied upon him for sustenance. But with the EBC, Ben was manipulating people so that he could help a wealthy crimelord like Krako rake in credits. Krako used his credits to support his vice spreading casinos, and along with that Krako was also a powerful Metellos loanshark that preyed on the indigent citizens of the planet. It seemed immoral even to a young man who had survived off petty crime and dealing with black market goods. Jedi Confrontation After those two years Benedictus caught the attention of a Jedi Knight who was on the hunt for whom he believed was Sith, using the force to manipulate people into selling and buying for absurd prices. When the Knight, Dappon Kray, confronted the EBC negotiator, he found only a scared young boy behind a costume. Kray revealed to Ben that he had unknowingly been using the force to persuade people. Instead of punishing the young man, Kray offered Ben a way out of a life of crime; he offered to help Ben become a Jedi. Ben agreed, and he, along with his protocol droid D4-D10, left the planet that night with their new Jedi companion. Praxeum on Arkania After acceptance by the Jedi Council at Coruscant, Jedi Knight Kray requested to have Benedictus instructed not at the Temple on Coruscant, but at the praxeum on Arkania. The praxeum was the old haunt of Arca Jeth, but after his death, generations of wizened alumnae return to the praxeum to pass on their wisdom to green padawans. Benedictus was rigorously trained by the Quermian Jedi Master, Lortha Streef. Benedictus had a problem with discipline as he believed himself smarter than the soft spoken Master Streef. Not until Streef telepathically defeated Ben in a debate on diplomatic relations did Ben come to see Streef as far superior. Streef passed on to Ben a mastery of mind tricks including Streef’s most advanced tactic; illusion. The quermian master, after teaching Ben the intricacies of mediation, sent Ben out into the woods for 40 days to better commune his own mind with the flow of the force. Ben found a closeness with the force that he would ruminate on for years to come. Streef set Ben on a polyphasic sleep cycle that limited Ben to six 20-minute naps every 24 hours. This sleep cycle allowed Ben more clarity and more time to be educated by his Master. Ben needed this boost in active time to work on his lightsaber skills; the quality of a Jedi he was unable to master under Streef. For three straight years, Ben came in last in the annual saber tournaments held on praxeum grounds. Ben could be found at any time of day or night out in the training arena, drenched in sweat holding a practice saber. The young human was determined, with the help of Master Streef, to excel at Ataru, but, to Ben’s chagrin, he was never able to rise above sub-par status with a saber. After four years Benedictus had quickly taken to intricate mind tricks like illusion, persuasion, and telepathy thanks to his inborn attributes and the Streef’s training. Ben was also developing well in multiple telekinetic abilities. Master Streef was called away for urgent and long-term business, and in light of this event, Ben’s training on Arkania ended abruptly. Jedi Kray returned to Arkania and announced to Benedictus that the council had accepted the Knight’s request to take Ben as his padawan learner. Kray's Padawan Benedictus and Jedi Knight Dappon Kray, with D4-D10 in tow, ventured on dozens of diplomatic missions of varying lengths for two years while Kray attempted to impart upon Ben the delicacies that come with interacting with authority figures such as Senators, councilmen, kings, and chairmen from a litany of cultures. Benedictus kept in contact with Jedi Master Lortha Streef through the written transpondence, and the quermian struggled to continue to educate his former pupil from hundreds of light-years away. Dappon Kray tried to help Ben with his saber fighting flaws, but found little success. Stranded with the Swordmaster While on an escort mission in the Eriadu system, Ben’s convoy was assaulted by a group of pirates. One barrage of cannon shot knocked out Ben’s communications and his engine, sending him spiraling into the planet of Jaroona without alerting his allies. Ben couldn’t gain control of his ship as it plummeted into the atmosphere. The padawan ejected from his fighter and watched it collide with the blue Jaroon ocean. Ben and his parachute floated to the surface of the water and eventually Ben began swimming towards the shore a half a dozen miles away. An exhausted padawan arrived on land at nightfall and rested on the beach for the night. Ben travelled through the forest for a couple days, foraging what he could before coming upon a small hut where he found an old deaf/mute arkanian male. Although Ben was unable to communicate with the old arkanian, the old man seemed kind nonetheless, sharing his goods and providing hand woven blankets. Ben, without a transponder, and with the knowledge that this planet we uninhabited, was helpless but to wait for rescue. Weeks passed and Ben became less optimistic, but thought that he would make the best of a bad situation. Ben came to learn the arkanian’s sign language in order for the two to communicate. Within three weeks, Ben was fluid enough in the man’s language to communicate with him effectively. It turns out that the man had been deserted upon the planet for two decades, being stranded in a similar way; he had been travelling to a duel on another planet when pirates attacked his cruiser, injuring his head, making him a deaf/mute, and stranding him on the island. The man’s story did not inspire much hope. The two men became fast friends, and it seemed that the arkanian had things he wanted to teach Benedictus. The arkanian revealed his name to be Habib Oten, a former champion duelist. Ben and him, using wooden training swords crafted from nearby trees, sparred together daily and nightly, with Oten teaching Ben much about his stance; a stance Ben recognized as Soresu. Ben progressed wonderfully within a year, even besting Oten nine out of every ten matches. Ben had finally come to understand how to wield a sword. One day, when venturing out deep into the woods, Oten and Ben were assaulted by a rancor hiding deep within a nearby cave. Ben had nothing more than his wits to defend himself with, but to his surprise, Oten pulled out a blue lightsaber from deep within his robes. Oten slowly dismantled the beast by himself, but not without being mortally wounded. Benedictus ran to the man and attempted to put pressure on his wounds. Oten stopped Ben’s attempts, and spoke to the man in basic using his voice. Oten revealed that he was a former Jedi, sent into self-exile to better understand his place in the universe. He abstained from vocal communication for two decades in a test of willpower. He broke his twenty year silence only to explain himself to Ben. Oten felt that the force had sent Benedictus to him because there was something Oten needed to teach Ben; Oten’s signature lightsaber style. Oten’s last words revealed the location of a working transponder and his journal near the site of their hut. Benedictus carried the man’s body back to the hut with tears in his eyes. Ben used the transponder and within a week came in contact with a military freighter who, although surprised, happily rescued Ben. Ben read Habib Oten’s journal twenty times in that week. It seems the young padawan was trained in swordplay by a Soresu prodigal master that went MIA two decades ago after suffering a mental breakdown Ben returned to the Order and civilized life, but only after the personal repatriation of Master Habib Oten’s body to the Jedi’s family on Dantooine. Return to the Order Benedictus reunites with his master, his droid, and the Jedi Order at the Temple of Coruscant. After a brief recuperation period, Benedictus continued his training with Master Kray and they continued serving as diplomatic envoys to planets in need of the services of negotiators. Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Human Category:Republic Category:Jedi Category:Force User